After a two day hunt in the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, NATO’s flagship HNLMS Evertsen boarded a pirated dhow on June 29 and released seven hijacked Indian and Bangladeshi crew members. The Omani flagged dhow Nebarkad had been hijacked on 20th June off the coast of Oman, and was used by the pirate
Following six months of preparation and training, Royal Navy mine hunter, HMS Blyth ”left the wall” on Friday, June 29, from her home port of HM Naval Base Clyde to start her journey to the Mediterranean for a six month NATO deployment. The highly equipped Sandown class ship is off to join a NATO ta
The Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Chicago (SSN 721) arrived at Fleet Activitites Yokosuka June 29 for its first port visit as part of its Western Pacific deployment. With a crew of approximately 135 Sailors, Chicago will conduct a multitude of missions and showcase the latest capabilit
Sailors from guided-missile cruiser USS Cape St. George (CG 71) took part in a four-day training exercise with the royal navy destroyer HMS Daring (D32) that concluded June 7. The first event between the ships was a weapons exercise. Cape St. George delivered a firepower demonstration firing on seve
The Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) is currently preparing for the Bulgarian naval exercise “BREEZE 2012”, an annual , national, naval exercise with international participation and directed by the Bulgarian Navy Command. The exercise involves naval units from the Bulgarian Navy, the Turkish N
From the 18th to 21st June 2012, EU Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) frigates Guépratte and Reina Sofia collaborated with USS Taylor, engaged in TF 508 (NATO) to escort World Food Programme chartered ship MV Tupi Maiden 3. The escort of WFP ship started in Salalah (Oman) and was performed by EUNAVFOR French f
On June 27, the Netherlands Defence Materiel Organization and Thales Nederland signed an agreement to modify the four SMART-L volume search radars installed on the “De Zeven Provinciën” class air defence and command frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The new SMART-L radar will be optimized for
Portsmouth based warship HMS Ledbury will return home today after spending six months working alongside NATO counterparts in the Mediterranean Sea. The Hunt Class minehunter and her 42 crew sailed in early January. Since then Ledbury has clocked up 12,000 nautical miles and spent her time operating
Amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21) added another milestone to her maiden deployment with the landing of a U.S. Army AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter on its flight deck, June 22. The Army aviators of 3-159 Attack Reconnaissance Battalion (ARB) landed during a joint training exercise
The Naval Service annual fleet exercise, Exercise Rua, is taking place from the 26th to the 28th of June 2012 off the South and South West Coast of Ireland. The Naval Service are currently conducting a major fleet exercise off the South West Coast of Ireland involving armed boarding parties, search
The Portsmouth-based warship spent 18 hours taking part in ten exercises practising a range of anti-surface operations against FS Lavallee, an Exocet-armed corvette, to demonstrating anti-air warfare against Rafale and Super Etendard fighter aircraft. As well as the war fighting opportunities the ne
Royal Navy ice patrol ship HMS Protector returns home to Portsmouth on Wednesday (June 27) from her maiden deployment to the frozen continent of Antarctica. The 5,000-tonne ice-breaker spent most of her seven months away surveying and patrolling the Antarctic Peninsula. In her first deployment since
Royal Navy submarine HMS Vigilant has recently returned to her home in Scotland following a multi-million pound, three-year overhaul. The vessel, one of the UK’s four Vanguard Class nuclear submarines, was officially handed back to the Navy for operational use on Thursday, June 21, 2012. Known as a
On Wednesday, June 23 His Excellency Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti, attended the opening of the new Djiboutian Naval Operations Centre. Djiboutian military and civilian authorities were present, along with representatives from the USA and France, who provided support to
